Zimbabwe expects ‘bumper harvest’

HARARE – The Zimbabwe government has told international donors it will not need emergency food aid this year because it expects a bumper harvest, state media reported yesterday.

The announcement came a few days after UN food agencies had to suspend a mission to assess crop supplies in the southern African country when local administrators interrupted their work. “We don’t need food aid from outside the country.We generally believe we produced enough for local consumption, and we have told our international partners about this,” Labour and Social Welfare Minister Paul Mangwana was quoted as telling state news agency Ziana.However, independent analysts and aid agencies say that some 5.5 million Zimbabweans – 2.5 million of them in urban areas – require emergency food aid this year.In March, 63 people, 48 of them children, were reported to have died from hunger in the country’s second city of Bulawayo.Zimbabwe requires at least 1.8 million tonnes of maize a year for its human and livestock needs, and independent agencies estimate that Zimbabwe may face a shortfall of 900 000 tonnes of maize this year.Last month the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung organisation commissioned an independent survey that concluded that a shortage of fertilizers, seed and tillage, combined with the effects of late rainfall would result in Zimbabwe only producing between 650 000 and 850 000 tonnes of maize.Technical experts from UN agencies are still waiting to hear from the government if they can proceed with an annual assessment of Zimbabwe’s food crops.Zimbabwe’s food shortages have been attributed to drought and the government’s controversial land reform policy launched in 2000 that saw the seizure of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to blacks.The government said it was confident of a bumper harvest in 2004, although it has not publicised any crop figures so far.”There are some areas that would have food deficits, but these would be covered through internal food distribution,” Mangwana told Ziana.He added that donors would only be asked to assist in development programmes “and if we have good rains again this year, we will kiss goodbye to food imports and donor food assistance.”- Nampa-AFP”We don’t need food aid from outside the country.We generally believe we produced enough for local consumption, and we have told our international partners about this,” Labour and Social Welfare Minister Paul Mangwana was quoted as telling state news agency Ziana.However, independent analysts and aid agencies say that some 5.5 million Zimbabweans – 2.5 million of them in urban areas – require emergency food aid this year.In March, 63 people, 48 of them children, were reported to have died from hunger in the country’s second city of Bulawayo.Zimbabwe requires at least 1.8 million tonnes of maize a year for its human and livestock needs, and independent agencies estimate that Zimbabwe may face a shortfall of 900 000 tonnes of maize this year.Last month the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung organisation commissioned an independent survey that concluded that a shortage of fertilizers, seed and tillage, combined with the effects of late rainfall would result in Zimbabwe only producing between 650 000 and 850 000 tonnes of maize.Technical experts from UN agencies are still waiting to hear from the government if they can proceed with an annual assessment of Zimbabwe’s food crops.Zimbabwe’s food shortages have been attributed to drought and the government’s controversial land reform policy launched in 2000 that saw the seizure of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to blacks.The government said it was confident of a bumper harvest in 2004, although it has not publicised any crop figures so far.”There are some areas that would have food deficits, but these would be covered through internal food distribution,” Mangwana told Ziana.He added that donors would only be asked to assist in development programmes “and if we have good rains again this year, we will kiss goodbye to food imports and donor food assistance.”- Nampa-AFP